Westminster Abbey v. Notre Dame

It's been a while since I did one of my historical posts. I thought I'd do another comparison, this time of Westminster Abbey in London and Notre Dame in Paris.

Westminster Abbey was first founded in 960 AD by St Dunstan. Edward the Confessor rebuilt it less than a century later, in the Norman style. He was buried there. In the 13th Century Henry III rebuilt it again in the Gothic style we see today. It wasn't completed in his lifetime, and it wasn't till about 1500 that work was finally finished. It escaped destruction during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries and was passed to his new Church.

Notre Dame was started in 1163 in the reign of Louis VII. The west front and towers were built in 1225-50. It is therefore very much more of a piece. Many of the statues on the facade were hacked off during the French Revolution and thrown into the River Seine. It became a Temple To Reason. The building was restored by Viollet-Le-Duc in the 19th century after Victor Hugo's novel Notre Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) revived interest in the structure.

It's very difficult to compare these buildings even though they were partly built during the same period. The setting of Notre Dame is very romantic, and the facade is very balanced and pleasing. Westminster Abbey has been defaced by things like the appalling clock on the north tower. It doesn't have the triple doors which adorn the west front of Notre Dame. But it does have an appealing simplicity.

They both have the flying buttresses that I adore.

Westminster Abbey from the south

Notre -Dame from the south

West Front Of Westminster Abbey

West Front of Notre Dame

Westminster Abbey interior

Notre Dame interior